The Stones of Time
by Cyberkidx
Summary: Based off of Sonic CD. When The Little Planet returns to Mobius, Dr. Robotnik returns to steal the seven mystic Time Stones. Sonic and his friends try and stop him with the help of new allies from the future.
1. Prolouge: The Planet Festival

**Well, this is my first story ever on this site. I was inspired by and have borrowed some ideas from JudasFM's stories based off of the second and third Sonic games. Enjoy.**

**Edit: It has come to my attention that some people are confused by the character's ages in this story. Well, simply take the ages of the new generation characters and subtract by 2 to get the ages in this story, therefore, Sonic is 13, Amy is 10, Tails is 6, Knuckles is 14, and so on and so forth. This was done for two reasons; one, because It helps merge the two generations, and two, It was about two years before Sonic Adventure when I first played sonic CD ;).**

It was finally the long expected day on South Island. The dwarf planet dubbed, The Little Planet, was soon to re-enter Mobius' atmosphere. Only returning once every 10 years, The Little Planet's atmosphere and climate was nearly identical to Mobius's, ideal for colonization. People from all over Mobius would flock to South Island to enjoy the Planet Festival that was held there, visit the planet, and to join the colonies. The colonies were already well established, even to the point where the traditional 7 zones of an island had been established. The many amazing sights to see on the planet had many people visiting the planet and even staying on during it's venture back into space. In order to keep the planet from leaving while tourists were still on board, a massive chain would attach the planet to South Island, preventing it from leaving till all the tourists had left.

While the Cosmic festival was still in it's beginning stages, three rather famous Mobians were on their way to the party.

"I don't know how on Mobius you convinced me to leave my island AND the Master Emerald to come to a stupid party." Knuckles grumbled to Sonic as they walked towards the small desert between Green Hill Zone and Marble Zone where the planet would come closest to Mobius.

"I highly doubt anyone will miss seeing the Little Planet's return to Mobius to fly all the way up to Angel Island and try to steal the Master Emerald." Sonic replied " And if you weren't so stubborn, we could have made it to the festival earlier."

"Yeah!" Tails put in "Besides those traps and cameras I set up'll stop any thieves who try to swipe the emerald."

"I still don't trust those fancy gizmos." Knuckles muttered.

"You'll enjoy the festival, trust me. It only happens every ten years, so it has to be awesome."

"How would YOU know? You were only three when the last one happened."

"True, but Mighty was six, and he remembered enough to tell me. He said it was awesome, there were huge rides, lots of food, and you could ride up a space elevator and look around the zones up on the planet."

"Big whoop…" Knuckles muttered. "I don't need to come to South Island to see the planet. My ancestors could see the planet from Angel Island just fine. Besides, if I wanted rides, I'd just go to Carnival Night Zone."

"Ah hush up." Sonic replied, "We're here!"

"Wow!" Tails exclaimed in awe of the awesome sight before them. There was a standard fair ground with rides and food kiosks, but there was also a huge stage for concerts and other entertainments, many booths where people from all over Mobius would sell merchandise from their home zones, and smack in the center of the festival, the massive chain that connected Little Planet to Mobius. And even Knuckles was silenced by the impressive sight of the Little Planet's enormous bulk floating over the festival.

"I heard it's even more impressive at night when all the lights are on." Sonic remarked as they neared the entrance.

"Gee Sonic, really?" A female voice from behind them said. Upon hearing the voice, Sonic froze completely stiff.

"No. Please no." Sonic moaned. "Not her. Not now."

"Hi Amy!" Tails called, oblivious to Sonic's misery.

"Oh Sonic, I knew I'd find you here." Amy Rose said as she locked him in an awkward hug, (Much to the amusement of Knuckles) "I knew you wouldn't miss something this big."

"Yeah, you were right." Sonic said as he franticly gestured to Tails to get her off of him. But Tails just innocently stared and Knuckles was too busy trying not to burst with laughter. "Um, can you please let go now?" Sonic asked.

"Will you promise not to run away?" Amy asked.

"Oh sure." Sonic said, crossing his fingers. As soon as Amy released Sonic, He took off at top speed, leaving behind a bewildered Tails, a hysterical Knuckles, and a furious Amy.

"Ooohhh, Sonic!" She grumbled "I should have known he'd do something like this." As she stormed off to the fair to find him, Knuckles finally recovered enough to start off himself.

"Maybe coming here wasn't such a bad idea after all." he chuckled to himself as Tails tagged along behind.

"Why was Sonic in such a hurry to get away from Amy?" Tails wondered out loud. "I like Amy."

"You'll understand when you're older." Knuckles said as they entered the fair grounds. "Now then, what should we do first?"

"I'm riding the roller coaster" Tails said with decision.

"Well, I suppose, but don't be disappointed if they don't let you ride because you're not tall enough."

"They've gotta let me ride cause I helped Sonic save the world, TWICE."

"I had a hand in that second one you know." Knuckles pointed out.

"Yeah, by dropping us into ravines and trying to drown us and turning off lights and throwing bombs at us and…"

"Yeah yeah, whatever…" Knuckles muttered.

As they neared the rollercoaster, Knuckles noticed three familiar faces in the line ahead. "Hey! Espio, Vector, Charmy!

"Well now, If it isn't Knuckles the Echidna. Good to see you again." Vector said with a smile. "What are you doin' here?"

"Eh, Sonic dragged me down here to see the planet. What are you guys doing here?"

"We were hired as festival security due to our work with you and Mighty protecting Carnival Island." Espio said.

"Yeah!" Charmy exclaimed, "And for our work, we get free food 'n rides!"

"Cool!" Tails said. "If they let you ride, I'm definitely old enough."

"Ah," Vector said, "You must be Tails. Knuckles told us a lot about you and Sonic. He said you're quite the little ball of energy."

"Trust me, He's nothing compared to Charmy." Knuckles chuckled.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Charmy said huffily.

While Espio and Vector tried to calm Charmy down, Sonic was trying to get to the concert stage without being seen by Amy.

"It figures, The Underground are here live, and _she _keeps me from seeing them." He muttered as he tried to take routes he thought she thought he wouldn't take. As he was sneaking around, he heard a commotion near where the chain connected the Little Planet to South Island. He hurried over, he saw the cause of the commotion. Doctor Ivo Robotnik with a small army of robots had burrowed under the chain and had taken out the security around it.

"Robotnik!" Sonic exclaimed as he dashed towards his foe.

"Ah, Sonic, fancy meeting you here." The doctor chuckled as his robots moved in towards the massive chain "I should have known you wouldn't miss something as big this."

"I should have thought the same, but you didn't answer my question, what are you doing?"

"I'm here for the Little Planet's chain of course." Robotnik grinned.

"You can't do anything to it. It was designed to be completely unbreakable." Sonic shot back.

"My dear Sonic, whoever said anything about breaking it?" So saying, Robotnik pushed a switch on his dashboard. The robots surrounding the chain began to fire lasers to weld the chain firmly to the device that released the chain when it was time for the planet to leave. "Now the planet cannot escape until I'm finished with it!" he laughed.

"What would you want with the Little Planet?" Sonic questioned "There's nothing of value on it."

"That's where you're wrong my spiky blue friend." Robotnik said turning his Eggmobile to face the planet. "There are seven objects of great value on it."

"What?" Sonic said, startled. "I put all seven of the Chaos Emeralds back in the Special Zone."

"Did I ever say I was after the Chaos Emeralds?" Robotnik laughed as he and his robots began flying towards the planet's surface.

By this time, A large crowd had gathered around the chain. Knuckles, Tails, and the Chaotix just arrived.

"Sonic! What's going on?" Knuckles asked as they ran up.

"Looks like Robotnik's back"

"Aw man." Tails complained, "Now I'm never gonna get to ride the roller coaster."

"Never mind that." Vector said. "We've gotta figure out what he's up to. Chaotix! Let's look for clues."

"We should probably head up to the planet and try to see what he would want up there." Espio said.

"Then let's go Go GO!" Charmy said, buzzing with excitement.

"Wait!" one of the security guards said "Robotnik damaged the elevator so no one could follow him."

"No biggy." Sonic said with a shrug. "We can take the Tornado."

"And we can rent a plane." Vector said.

Then as the crowd cheered them on, The two groups of heroes set out on their quest to save the Little Planet from Dr. Robotnik's latest evil scheme.

**Well, That's it for the prologue. Please read and review. I will be more than happy to answer any questions you might have.**


	2. Palmtree Panic Zone Act1

**Well, here's the first real chapter of my story. Enjoy, and please R&R.**

"Are we there yet?" Tails repeatedly asked as they neared the planet's surface. The three friends had returned to Green Hill Zone, and were currently flying the Tornado towards the surface of the planet.

"You should know Tails, you're the one who's driving!" Knuckles grumbled from the back seat.

"Yeah, but I can't see anything. We didn't think to get me another phone book to sit on after we got the plane cleaned."

"We're flying blind?" Knuckles shouted.

"Relax," Sonic said, relaxing on the wings. "Tails has a sixth sense about flying. He's never wrecked yet."

"But Sonic, Remember when we were flying to Robotnik's Wing Fortress Zone and he fired that big laser an-MPHH"

"Yeah, yeah sure I do." Sonic said, reaching down and covering Tails' mouth so Knuckles wouldn't be even more panicked.

"Well, sixth sense or not, I don't think that even he'll be able to adjust to the curve in gravity." Knuckles muttered. "And even if Tails can adjust, what's going to happen to the Chaotix? Vector isn't exactly the best pilot in the world."

"Ah, you worry too much." Sonic grinned.

As the plane neared the planet, the airplane began to increase in speed due to gravity changing direction. Suddenly, Sonic and Knuckles had to hang on to the wings for dear life.

"Tails!" Knuckles yelled. "Pull up!"

"I can't!" Tails screamed back. "The engine isn't responding!"

As the speed of the plane increased, Sonic was flung off of the wings.

"TAILS!!" Sonic yelled as he was blown away from the plane. He was whipped around by the intense turbulence until he was completely disoriented. Suddenly, there was a loud thump, and everything went black.

When Sonic came to, he found himself lying in a grove of palm trees. He noticed a sign stating he was in the tropical zone of the planet, Palmtree Panic Zone.

"Tails? Knuckles?" he called out, then winced as rubbed a huge knot on his noggin. "Ugh… I can't believe I survived that fall. Then again, if I can survive a fall from the Death Egg, I can survive anything."

As he got up, he noticed a sign that pointed the way to the city section of the zone. "Huh… I guess I ought to see if Robotnik made it here yet." Starting off in that direction, Sonic decided to walk and admire the scenery. _After all_, he thought, _It's not every day you get to walk on another planet._

As he walked, he noticed some things flying towards him. Hoping it would be some native birds that he could question, he stopped and waved. However, as they neared him, he noticed that they looked more like giant mosquitoes. Starting to get nervous about meeting native aliens, Sonic started to back away. But when they were close enough for him to make out their details, he realized that they weren't alive after all. They were robots!

"Well, I guess that answers whether Robotnik made it here or not." Sonic said, glaring at the mechanical bugs. When they noticed him, They immediately pointed their needles at him and charged one at a time. Sonic quickly jumped and dodged out of the way without getting speared. "Come on! old Robuttnik can certainly do better than that." he chuckled as he walked back to bust the trapped robots. As he reached the nearest one, he smashed the robot to free whatever was powering it. He was expecting a young mobian, or at least, a small feral animal to be released. But instead, a small glowing seed came forth and fell upon the ground, instantly blooming into a strange flower with pink petals and blue leaves. Upon smashing the other robots, identical seeds were released. Confused and still needing answers. Sonic continued through the zone, hoping to find the answers in the city.

As he continued onward, he noticed what looked like an enormous wall up ahead. When he got close enough, he saw that it was indeed an enormous wall with a sloped base and a strange levitating wheel next to it.

_What the heck am I supposed to do?_ Sonic wondered, _That thing's so high, I'll never be able to run all the way up on my own power._ Still, knowing that he couldn't just stay there and let Robotnik fulfill his evil scheme, whatever it may be, Sonic ran back to a nearby hill, gathered speed and tried to dash up the wall. To his surprise, he gained an enormous boost of speed from the wheel, sending him soaring over the wall, causing him to look down and wonder whether that was his brightest move. As he ascended, he noticed many robots on the hills ahead. _I didn't think Robotnik could get so many robots up and running in such a short amount of time._ Sonic though as he leveled out and began to plummet towards the ground. Looking down, he noticed what looked like a robotic moth fluttering down below him. Curling up, he aimed himself to land on the robot and break his fall. however, instead of slowing his fall, the robot exploded with enough force to launch him into the sky again.

"Lower gravity… Who knew?" he muttered, bracing himself for the deadly impact with the ground. When he hit, it didn't hurt nearly as much as he thought it would. No bruises or anything. _Lower gravity, you __**gotta**__ love it_. He thought as he pushed himself up and looked around. He decided to head into the hills he'd seen from the sky. Having had quite enough of the sky, he decided to take the lower route. As he walked down the path, he felt a sudden crumbling underneath him. And before he knew it, he had fallen into a pitfall under the mountain.

"Well, Hedgehog, you wanted the lower route and now you've got it." Sonic said, mentally kicking himself for being so stupid. A solid wall ahead prevented moving forward, so he turned around to see if he could find a way out. A couple of spike traps were easily jumped over, revealing on the other side, a robot that looked like a cross between an ant and a unicycle. It merely putted back and forth in a continual pattern.

_Is that thing suppose to scare me?_ Sonic thought as he smashed it. _The only danger in that thing is running into it at full speed._

Continuing through the pit, he walked into a small cave and saw a monitor like the ones he had seen in nearly every zone he'd visited on his adventures. It was displaying a group of small stars.

"Yeah! Maybe falling down here wasn't such a bad thing after all!" he laughed as he punched the activation button and shattered the screen. Now glowing with energy, Sonic saw an exit just ahead, a red spring. Using it to launch out of the cave, he found himself back just beyond the wall. _Well, at least it wasn't a total waste of time._ he thought as he leaped over the pitfall to smash another moth robot, bouncing off of it to crush an antbot as well.

Just beyond the ant was another monitor, this one also had a familiar icon on it. "Alright!" Sonic exclaimed smashing the button and expecting the familiar blue force field to surround him. However, to his disappointment, nothing happened. "Duh!" he said, Smacking himself in the head. "I'm still invincible." so saying, he leaped onto a nearby spring to make the most of his temporary energy. On top of the next cliff, he took a step forward and found himself falling through yet another pitfall. looking down, he nearly had a heart attack as he saw the pit was lined with spikes. Bracing himself for a painful death, Sonic was surprised to realize his invincibility was still active and he found himself levitating a few inches above the spikes. Quickly leaping out of a hole in the wall, he found himself out in the open again.

"I am NEVER going to fall into a pitfall ever again." Sonic shuddered to himself as his invinciblity wore off and shield engaged. As he continued downward through the rugged terrain, he noticed a strange pit with a pattern of strange black spinning pads, and yellow springs on pillars inside of it. Stepping on a pad, Sonic found himself whirling around and around, till he fell off into the pit.

_This must be some place for kids to play on._ he thought as he climbed out of the hole and bounced on one of the springs trying to get a glimpse of what was ahead. He saw a beetle-like robot with what looked like exhaust pipes on its rear. "Heh, another stupid patrol bot?" He laughed as he landed on the other side of the pit. "What is Robotnik thinking?" He climbed to the top of the hill where the beetle was and revved for a spindash. However, he wasn't ready when the beetle-bot raised it's rear, and fired off two energy balls that struck Sonic and dissipated his shield. _Shouldn't have gotten cocky_ he thought as he blasted the pest and bounced up a spring to reach another cliff

Dashing through the rest of the zone and, for the most part, ignoring the bots, Sonic came across another booster-wheel wall. Rather nervous, but seeing no other way to progress, he dashed up it and once again careened into the sky. But this time when he came down, a mysterious platform materialized under him. Quickly jumping off of it in a panic, he landed on another invisible platform. This time, he was high enough to leap onto a nearby plateau.

He noticed a strange machine on another plateau a short distance away. Leaping over, he tried to touch it, but a strange force field held him back. _This thing looks like it's been here forever. _He mused to himself as he examined it. _At any rate I can assume that Robotnik had nothing to do with it. _

leaving the strange machine behind, Sonic leaped from the plateau to the ground, taking advantage of the weak gravity. as he started forward, a familiar voice called out to him from up ahead.

"Oh Sooooonnnniiiiiic" The voice called in a playful tone. "I fooouund yooou." Sonic began to tremble at the sound of the voice.

"No, not again." he moaned as Amy came dashing forwards and locked her arms around him.

"I knew I'd find you." she giggled "I was so worried. That fall was so scary to watch."

"Wait, You saw that?" Sonic questioned. "How did you even get here?"

"I hitched a ride with the Chaotix of course." She grinned " We saw your plane lose control, so we bailed out when it started to happen to us and I floated out here to save you."

"Gee, that's swell." Sonic muttered as he wrenched himself out of her grasp and took off down the path. "But I have to go now, so see ya."

"GET BACK HERE!" she screamed as she chased after him.

As he ran, he saw the act border sign that separates zones into sections, and behind it, a giant ring that probably led into a Special Zone. Desperate to get away and not caring where the ring came from or where it led, he leaped into the ring, leaving an enraged Amy behind.

********

After recovering from the dizziness that always resulted from teleporting into a Special Zone, Sonic looked around and saw that instead of being in a trippy, seizure-inducing zone like the rings normally lead to, he was standing on a strange mechanical island in an iceberg filled ocean. Up above, a peaceful aurora lit up the sky.

Still trying to figure out what he was supposed to do, he noticed six mysterious purple UFOs flying around. Figuring that Robotnik was using them to try and get the Chaos Emerald, or whatever resided in this strange Special Zone, Sonic took off to destroy them. As he ran, he began to slowly feel fatigue, almost like it felt to run before he became the fastest being on Mobius. Not letting this sudden exhaustion slow him down, he ran for the nearest hovering machine and jumped for it. Spinning through it, he temporarily felt enough energy to run at full speed. Dashing towards the next closest UFO, he suddenly felt himself being lifted into the air by a powerful updraft coming from the fan he accidentally ran over. As he drifted towards the UFO, he twisted his body as fast as he could, whirring like a propeller and sawing through the UFO.

_I think I've got it now._ He thought to himself as he destroyed another flying foe.

As he smashed his fourth UFO, he landed on the edge of a small inlet of the island. Failing to keep his balance, he walked right into it. But instead of sinking into the water like he feared, he found himself dashing just fast enough to stay on the surface. When he reached the other side though, he found himself about to drop from exhaustion. Suddenly, a strange noise drew his attention to the center of the stage. A blue UFO suddenly materialized. Panicked that Robotnik almost had what he was after, he reached inside and gathered just enough energy to leap forward and destroy it. Upon the destruction of the blue UFO, Sonic felt some of his fatigue leave him and he gained just enough strength to destroy the last two UFOs that floated around the stage.

"Well, that was kinda easy," he half laughed, half wheezed as he braked and came to a stop. "Now then… where's my emerald?" he wondered. Suddenly, a verdant light from above caught his attention. Looking up, he saw a large green gemstone about the size of his torso materialize and slowly float down in front of him. _That's no Chaos Emerald._ Sonic thought in wonder as he reached out to touch it. As he grabbed the glowing stone it in both hands, he felt a strange surge of energy like he had never felt before. Suddenly it ceased, and he found himself hanging onto the rock as they were ejected from the Special Zone back into the real world.

**Well, that's chapter 1 for you. Like I said, please R&R, and stick around for chapter 2.**


	3. Palmtree Panic Zone Act2 Bad Future

**Here's chapter two. Get ready for some suprises. Also, try to catch the JudasFM referance.**

When the tumbling and spinning of being ejected from the Special Zone came to a stop, Sonic found himself back at the act sign where he had entered.

"Ugh… no matter how many times I go to one of those zones, I never get used to it." He groaned as the nausea wore off. "At least I got one of the… um… whatever this thing is." he said, looking at the strange stone which had reduced to about the size of one of the Chaos Emeralds. "This must be one of what Robotnik's after." he mused to himself. He then started to chuckle as he realized, "I lost Amy!"

"Are you sure?" her angry voice said, as she leaped out of a palm tree overhead to tackle Sonic and pin him to the ground. "So, try and run away now."

"Ughh… get off… Please?" Sonic groaned.

"Not till you apologize and promise not to run away again." She said, firmly planting herself on him.

"Ugh… fine, you can go with me untill we reach the town, now just GET OFF!!"

"Fine, you don't have to yell." she said as she got off and grabbed one of his arms, preventing him from trying to escape. Sonic said nothing. He was too busy thinking. Amy's pounce attack had reminded him of when Tails was a much littler kid. He suddenly tensed up as he remembered his little buddy's current situation.

"TAILS! KNUCKLES! They were still on The Tornado! I gotta see if they're okay!" Sonic yelled as he tried to dash off, but Amy's firm grip on his arm prevented him.

"Relax, I saw the plane open up a drag cute to slow their descent. They're fine, so calm down already." Amy said, tightening her grip. "Now we can go to Palmtree City _**together**_ and find them."

"Whatever, let's just go." Sonic said gloomily as he walked at an excruciatingly slow pace next to Amy. _It's only one act away_. He thought to himself, _I think I can take her for that long_.

"Oh Sonic, isn't this such a beautiful place?" Amy sighed, interrupting his thoughts.

"Whatever you say." Sonic muttered, trying to find some sort of escape. Looking up, he saw it on a nearby ledge. "Oh! Look!" He said, barely masking his excitement, "I think I see something metal up on that cliff. I think it's the Tornado!"

"Oh no you don't." She scolded, "Tails landed in the city. I saw him."

"There IS something up there!" Sonic insisted. "I think it's important."

"Then let's go up there… _**Together**_." Sonic merely chuckled to himself in reply. They were going to reach town a lot quicker than she thought.

"There it is." He said as they reached the ledge and pointed to the monitor that he had seen from the ground. It had the symbol of a red sneaker on it. Sonic had always thought that the symbol had been inspired by his special, burn-proof sneakers, but he now realized that since the planet had no knowledge of his past exploits, and these monitors had been around for a long time, the makers must have had a different inspiration. He couldn't guess what else it could have been though. Amy suddenly spoke, snapping him back to reality.

"What in the world is that?" Amy wondered, looking curiously at it.

"My ticket outa here." Sonic grinned, as he smashed the button and felt the energy from the monitor charge his legs, making them feel weightless and powerful. Sonic streaked forward, reaching max speed from a standstill and dragging Amy behind.

"Sonic! Slow down!" She screeched as she held on for dear life.

"Hold on!" he grinned as they neared the next cliff, "This looks like a tricky part." His reflexes had also been enhanced which allowed him to leap from cliff to cliff, picking up even more speed as he shattered another speed monitor. "Yeah!" he exclaimed. "We'll be there in no time!"

Strange blue sparks suddenly began to surround him and he began to feel the strange energy he felt in the special stage upon touching the jewel. Amy's hand suddenly phased through his as if she didn't exist, and she screamed as she crashed and skidded forward on the ground. Sonic would have stopped to help her, but the momentum and speed boosts were too great for him to slow up enough. He pulled the stone from his quills, and realized that it was causing the sparks and energy. As soon as he realized it, the surrounding sparks engulfed him, sending him through a flashing green and yellow tunnel that was not unlike the entrance to a Special Zone. Suddenly it all ceased and he found himself running through Palmtree Panic again. A wall was directly in front of him that wasn't there before, and he smacked right into it as full speed, knocking himself senseless.

Sonic lay there in pain for a few minutes before he managed to come to his senses and pull himself back up. He then glared at the amazing, appearing cliff, it didn't look the same as the cliffs he had been running through before. This wall was purple and grey instead of orange and yellow. Confused, he looked around the rest of the zone and saw a horrible sight. Pollution and filth had completely covered the once green and thriving zone. Instead of the dominant colors being green and orange like they once were, they now were purple and chrome, giving the whole zone a corrupted feel to it. There were strange metal pipes all over the place that pumped gray sludge into the ocean. And the entire zone now smelled like whenever Robotnik rebuilds a mechanical zone as one of his robot factories. Even the trees had been changed, now looking robotic, as if they had been run through Robotnik's robotisizer device.

_What the heck did I do? _Sonic wondered as he took in the horrible sights. Suddenly a small scraping sound from behind alerted him that he was being watched. A large group of robots suddenly came out of nowhere and surrounded him. Unlike the robots before, which resembled insects and looked as though they had been running for years and were beginning to run down, these new robots looked brand new, were humanoid in appearance, and fit the toxic wasteland perfectly. The apparent leader fixed it's red, robotic eye upon Sonic and began to compute aloud.

**(Target4) Appeared At Coordinates 1-2-10;**

**(Target4) Motive: Delete (Creator);**

**Solution: Delete (Target4);**

**Operation Delete (Target4): Begin;**

Sonic, anticipating what would come next, immediately leaped into the air, avoiding the blast that was fired from a cannon on the robot's arm, and landed on top of another robot, immediately destroying it. He then proceeded to bounce around, destroying as many of the robots as he could. But for every one he destroyed, two more would arrive, and eventually, he was captured. The leader began to speak again.

(**Target4) Status: Captured;**

**Operation Delete (Target4): Reboot;**

However, before it could "delete" Sonic, there was a streak of orange and chrome, a metallic clang, and the leader collapsed, electricity sparking from a wound that had suddenly appeared where the blur had struck. However, it was apparently still capable of computing.

_**Khhhhhit **_**(Tar**_**Bzzt**_**1) Appeared **_**Bz**_** Coordinates **_**Shhzzz**_**-2-6;**

**(Swat1) Power lev**_**Buzz**_** 25 Of Maxi**_**Krshh;**_

**Soluti**_**Pshhh: **_**Strategic****Retreat **_**Khsssssss;**_

**OperationStratigicRetreat: Begin;**

And as quickly as they came, the small army of robots disappeared.

_What just happened here?_ Sonic thought to himself, trying to figure out what the robot had said. He figured he was Target4, the orange blur was Target1 and that the leader robot was Swat1. But who was Target1 and why did it save him? Why did the robots fear it, but not himself? And what had happened to the zone to make it so polluted?

As these questions ran though his head, a voice urgently whispered, "Hey you! Blue dude, get up here! I don't have time to rescue you again."

Looking up, Sonic saw the silhouette of a mobian, presumably Target4, up on the cliff above him. The silhouette gestured for him to follow. Not knowing what else to do, He began to climb up the cliff after the figure. When he reached the top, the figure walked into cave and gestured for Sonic to follow. Rather nervous but seeing no alternative, Sonic followed, hoping that he wasn't walking into a trap.

********

"Good, you came. I was afraid you would've run off." The figure said, turning to face Sonic. The cave was dimly lit, so Sonic could tell that his host was a fox bearing a startling resemblance to Tails. However, there were some differences. This fox was at least thirteen years old, his fur was a much deeper shade of orange and he wore a blue cap and purple sneakers. The biggest thing that made him stand out though, was the fact that he had two mechanical tails that moved with the fluid motion of real tails.

"Yeah, I came." Sonic said, "I'm hoping to get some questions answered."

"Tell you what." The strange fox said, "You answer mine, and I'll answer yours."

"Okay…" Sonic said unsurely. "Shoot."

"Why did you dye your spines to look like Sonic the Hedgehog's?" The fox asked.

"Um… Because I am Sonic the Hedgehog." Sonic said, not sure why the fox thought he was some faker.

"Uh huh, sure." The fox said crossing his arms with obvious disbelief. "Your turn."

"Where am I?" Sonic asked.

"You're in Palmtree Panic Zone Act II." The fox said rolling his eyes. "Now, what's your real name?"

"I am Sonic the Hedgehog!" Sonic stomped, getting mad. "Why do think I'm not?"

"Well since you didn't answer my last question, I feel no need to answer yours."

"I'm telling you the truth!" Sonic practically yelled, prompting the fox to leap forward and cover his mouth.

"SHHHHhhh!! Do you WANT the Swatbots to find us?"

Sonic reached up and pried the fox's suprisingly firm fingers off his mouth. "I'll scream at the top of my lungs if you don't tell me what I need to know!"

The fox just stared at him in disbelief. "You're either mad or you're telling the truth."

"Who exactly are you?" Sonic asked, glaring at him

" My full name is… um… unimportant, but I am known to my friends as Tech the Cyborg."

"So what do I call you?" Sonic said, continuing to glare.

"Sigh... You really are Sonic the Hedgehog aren't you. How did you get here?"

"I rode here in the Tornado."

"What?" Tech said in disbelief. "My history lessons never said anything about the Tornado being capable of time travel."

"Time travel? History lessons? What year is this?" Sonic wondered.

"This is the year 3300." Tech answered.

"WHAT?" Sonic said, jumping back in suprise. "That's three hundred years from now!"

"If, by now, you are referring to the last Planet Festival, then yes, it would be."

"But if this is the future, how did you know I came from the Planet Festival?"

"Because that's when the Little Planet was captured by Dr. Ivo Robotnik and you were killed."

"Say what?" Sonic said in disbelief, not believing his ears.

"If you really are the real Sonic from the past, then I can't tell you anything more. To do so might wreck the space time continuum."

"But…" Sonic tried to start.

"But nothing." Tech said firmly. "I may have gone too far already." He paced back and forth in obvious thought. He then stopped and turned to Sonic, "How exactly did you get here?"

"Well," Sonic said, "I was running really fast, then I was whisked into this weird tunnel, then I popped back out here."

"Hm…" Tech mused. "I didn't think that even Sonic the Hedgehog could run fast enough to break the speed of light."

"Oh yeah!" Sonic said, pulling out the green stone. "I think this rock had something to do with it."

Tech stared at the rock, then stared at Sonic, then the rock again. He then spoke in an awed tone.

"I think need to get to Palmtree Ruin… Now."

**Well, that's it for Chapter 2. Did you catch the JudasFM refereance? Also, yes Tech is one of my OCs and yes, he is the fox to the left in my avatar. please leave a review.**


	4. Palmtree Panic Zone Act3 Bad Future

**Here's chapter 3****. Enjoy.**

Sonic head was in a whirl. One minute he had been running through a flourishing tropical zone, the next he found himself three hundred years in the future. At the moment he was climbing a mountain path that led to the ruin that, three hundred years ago, had once been Palm City, the developed section of Palmtree Panic. And for his guide, who else but the secretive cyborg fox, Tech.

"I still don't understand." Sonic said. "What made this thriving zone become such a-"

"Uh uh!" Tech said, cutting Sonic off. "I'm not at any liberty to tell you anything until I am absolutely certain that I know what that jewel you have there is."

"But what's so important about this stone, except for the fact that I found it in a special zone?"

"I'm not one-hundred percent sure yet, That's why we have to go to the ruins."

"Why?"

"I CAN"T TELL YOU YET!!!!!" Tech shouted.

"Shhhhh, You don't want to bring the Swatbots, now do you?" Sonic whispered with righteous indignation.

"Now I can see how you would get on the guardian's nerves." Tech muttered.

"How do you know about Knuckles?" Sonic asked.

"Hellloooo? You guys were like global celebrates before you… um."

"Died. I know, I know. And you can't tell me how, even if it might save my life, because you're afraid of temporal repercussions, whatever they are."

"I just don't want the universe to fold in on itself, explode, or fall apart by any other method, thank you very much!" Tech growled."

"You're welcome." Sonic grumbled back.

They climbed on in silence for a while until they reached the top of the mountain.

"Oh my…" Sonic gasped as he saw the ruins. You could tell that it had once been an enormous, thriving city. But now it lay in desolation and waste. Some of the ruined walls looked as though they had been blasted with explosives. And just like the rest of the zone, pollution covered everything. "Was there a war here or something?" Sonic asked as they clambered down the side.

"I… Can… not…."

"Tell… Me… Yet..." Sonic finished for him as they reached the city and began to search for whatever Tech was looking for.

As they wandered through the ruin, Sonic turned to Tech and asked, "Are you going to tell me what it is we're looking for now, or can't you tell me?"

"You'll know it when you see it." Tech muttered.

As they were approaching a clearing that Sonic assumed was once a park, Tech saw something up ahead and began running towards it.

"Aha! I knew it!" He cheered as he dashed ahead, leaving a startled Sonic behind. An enormous and quickly shrinking shadow suddenly fell on him.

"What the-?" Sonic started, then looked up and saw something massive falling towards Tech. "Tech! Look out!" He shouted as he streaked to warn him. Tech glanced up and froze stiff, completely paralyzed by shock. Sonic barely managed to shove him out of the way just as the huge object came slamming down where he had been standing two seconds ago.

"Mwahaha- huh?" A familiar, evil voice laughed as Sonic and Tech picked themselves up from the ground. "Where did those pests go?"

"What th- Robotnik?!" Sonic exclaimed in surprise and fury (but mostly suprise).

"Sonic?" The mad doctor said, trying to turn his mech around. "I guess I shouldn't be suprised that you managed to find me."

"How did you get here?"

"The same way you did of course." Robotnik said mysteriously.

While Sonic tried to figure out what the mad scientist meant (And Robotnik tried to turn around his mech.) Tech shouted, "It doesn't matter how you got here, Eggman, 'cause we're gonna send you back where you came from!"

"Eggman?" Sonic and Robotnik said simultaneously.

"Isn't that what you call him?" Tech asked sheepishly.

"No, but I like the sound of it." Sonic grinned.

"Well I don't." Eggma- err… Robotnik growled, as he finally managed to get his mech turned around and glared at the two heroes.

"Why not?" Sonic rhetorically asked. "You always name your gadgets Egg-something or other. Speaking of which, what horrible name do you have for us this time?"

"This is the Egg-Bouncer." Robotnik stated, causing Tech to laugh derisively.

"What's it gonna do? Kick us out of the zone for causing trouble?" He chuckled.

Ridiculous though it's name may be, the name Egg-Bouncer fit the mech perfectly. It's body was the basic egg capsule design Robotnik used for nearly all of his mechs but with the addition of two arms with spring loaded, bumper shaped fists on the front and two spring coiled legs with spike tipped feet.

"Laugh while you can, you pain of a fox, you won't be laughing for long." Robotnik said, pushing a switch and causing one of the fists to launch towards Tech, but fall just short of striking the now hysterical cyborg. Turning red with fury and embarrassment, Robotnik retracted the fist and stepped forward so he'd actually be able to hit somebody.

Realizing Robotnik was going to try to hit Tech again, Sonic got a running start and tried to slam the cockpit. But one of the bouncy fists raised up and deflected Sonic's strike. Before he knew what was happening, Sonic found himself dazed on the ground with a headache from the spring's blow.

Turning from Tech, Robotnik turned towards Sonic to crack his skull with a powerful blow from one of the fists. As the fist flew towards Sonic, Tech leapt towards the extended arm of the robot and slammed it with his tails, severing it off of the mech completely.

"Why you little pest!" Robotnik yelled as he turned back toward Tech and fired the other fist. "You're going to pay for that!"

While Robotnik was yelling at Tech, Sonic had managed to shake off the headache and had sawn through the other arm of the poorly designed mech.

"NO!" Robotnik shouted in anger and humiliation. He quickly realized that unless one of his foes stepped close enough for him to kick, he was virtually powerless. "You won't defeat me that easily!" He yelled as he began flipping switches at a crazy pace, setting the mech into overdrive. As the machine dashed towards the two travelers, hoping to impale one of them on one of it's spiked feet, they leapt into the air at a speed that made the Egg-bouncer look downright pokey next to them, and repeatedly bounced onto the side of the mech, completely destroying the legs. "NOOOOOOO!!! Robotnik screamed as the hero's jumped clear and his mech collapsed and exploded in a large, smoky blast.

"Gee… what a way to go." Tech said with a tinge of pity in his voice.

"Robotnik's survived worse. Don't be so sure he's out." Sonic muttered darkly. Sure enough, Robotnik soon floated out of the wreckage completely intact, yet rather blackened, using a small jetpack. "Gee doc, usually doesn't more of your machine survive?" Sonic mocked.

"You can't escape me no matter what time period you're in, Sonic, I will return!" Robotnik yelled as he turned and flew off.

"Tech! Get up there and stop him!" Sonic yelled as Robotnik quickly got further and further away!

"Um… yeah… I, um… gee…" Tech stammered, "It's just that-"

"He's getting away! Hurry up!" Sonic shouted.

"I'm kinda low on power." Tech said with embarrassment. "I couldn't hope to stay in the air for longer than five seconds." At this, Sonic just groaned hopelessly as he watched Robotnik quickly become a speck in the sky."Right!" Tech said, snapping Sonic out of his depression, "The ruin I was looking for, it's over here!"

As they ran towards the mysterious pillar, they noticed what looked like a giant, mechanical flower bud ahead of it.

"What the heck is this?" Sonic wondered as they neared and saw that it was dimly pulsing light.

"I think it's some sort of power source for the robot base nearby." Tech replied

"There's an entire base of robots? Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

"I'm not even going to humor you." Tech grumbled as Sonic smashed it, releasing a large scattering of sparkling seeds.

"More seeds?" Sonic said questioningly, " What are they? The robots in the present were powered by them too."

"You ask me one more question, and I'm going to leave you to the Swatbots." Tech growled as the seeds simultaneously sprouted into the strange pink and blue flowers. Walking past the instant garden, Tech reached the pillar that looked even more ancient than the rest of the city. It had seven sides and each side had a small hole in it.

"What's this-" Sonic started before Tech glared him into silence. _Boy, if looks could kill. _He thought to himself as Tech began to rub his fingers over the stone, feeling for ancient writing.

"There's an inscription on it that may explain your time jump." Tech said, peering closely at writing what looked like gibberish to Sonic.

"Are you sure you're allowed to tell me that?"

"If my theory is correct, I'll be able to tell you everything." Tech said as he continued examining the pillar. Turning to Sonic, he said, "Pass me the stone." Confused, Sonic handed it over.

"What do you need it for?" He asked. Instead of answering, Tech inserted the stone into one of the pillar's holes. Nothing happened. "Is your theory correct?" Sonic said.

"When did you get the stone?" Tech asked, ignoring Sonic's sarcasm.

"I found it in a special zone back in the first act." Sonic replied.

"Hmmm… What time was it?"

"I don't wear a watch…"

"Your time period or mine!"

"Okay, okay, it was the present."

"Ok. Now I think I got it." Tech said. "In order to test my theory, you'll need to get back to your present and try the pillar there."

"How? I don't even know how I time warped in the first place."

"Easy, do the inverse of whatever you were doing at the time of the first temporal warp."

"Run backwards while holding the stone?"

"At least try running in the opposite direction."

Shrugging, Sonic took the stone back, and dashed back the way they had came, all the time thinking _Please don't launch me further into the future_. As he picked up speed, the same blue sparks surrounded him and the flashing time warp started once again, catapulting him back through time.

**I know it's not as long as you might hope. I'm still trying to figure out what the best length for a chapter would be. The next chapter should be longer. I would love any comments you might have so please review even if you didn't like it.**


	5. Answers at last!

**Time for a short break from adventuring as Sonic's buddies catch up with him.**

As the temporal tunnel disappeared, Sonic found himself running through the traffic of the present day Palmtree City.

"YES! I'm back where I'm supposed to be!" he shouted in elation. Suddenly, a hovercar's horn made him realize he was running in the wrong lane. Leaping out of the way of incoming vehicles, Sonic started to run beside the hovercars in the right lane. Suddenly, a wailing siren alerted him to a following police car. Sonic immediately ran to the sidewalk and came to a stop. As he waited for the police car to catch up, he noticed that all of the civilians were backing away from him in fear.

When the cop car pulled over, he walked up to the window and jokingly stated, "I wasn't the one speeding officer, I was goin' the same speed as everyone else." To his surprise, he was promptly cuffed on both sets of limbs.

"Is it him?" a voice said on the officer's radio.

"Yeah chief," The cop replied, "He matches the description the doctor gave us."

"Oh no…" Sonic groaned as he was forced into the car. "I'm on a planet populated entirely by Knuckleheads."

When they arrived at the police station, he was frisked and the stone was taken from him. Then he was interrogated by a gorilla officer.

"Name?" The big ape said.

"Sonic the Hedgehog." Sonic grumbled.

"Do you recognize these faces?" The cop asked, showing him three photos of familiar faces.

"Yeah yeah, that's Knuckles the Echidna, Miles Prower, and Dr. Ivo Robotnik. Now I wanna ask you a question. Why am I being arrested?."

"You are being arrested for illegal possession of an ancient artifact, attempted planetary conquest, and speeding."

"I found that stone myself , I'm trying to save all of you from Robotnik and I wasn't-" Sonic shouted before realizing what he was about to say. "Well… two outa three's not bad."

"Playing innocent and blaming the doctor, just like he said you would." The gorilla sighed.

"Look, radio Mobius. They'll back up my story." Sonic begged. "They know I'm the hero and Robotnik's the madman."

"The radio signals have all been cut off." The interrogator said. Then looking at the stone that was taken from Sonic, he continued, "You also have one of the ancient stones he said you'd be after, that proves his story is true." He then took Sonic to the jail and literally threw him into a cell. As Sonic got up, he realized that Tails and Knuckles were in the cell with him.

"Sonic! You're okay!" Tails shouted as he nearly smothered Sonic with a hug, "Where have you been?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. But nothing that's happened so far prepared me for this. Now we're locked in jail because Eggman convinced the authorities that we're the crooks. And they took away the strange stone that I found in one of the special zones!"

"Eggman? Strange stone?" Tails said with a quizzical expression.

"Skip it." Sonic mumbled. "Why did they arrest you guys?"

"For being your accomplices. Knuckles was also resisting arrest and I was flying a plane without a license."

"This is unbelievable!" Knuckles shouted as he punched at a wall with fury, leaving massive dents. "What kind of idiot would believe one person's word over another without any proof?"

"You." Sonic and Tails replied simultaneously.

Before Knuckles had the chance to strangle Sonic, another officer came in.

"We've got a couple a' private investigators here that'll get the truth out of ya." He chuckled as he escorted Vector and Charmy into the cell.

"Hey! It's-" Tails started before Knuckles covered his mouth.

"Now you guys be careful," the cop said to the two detectives. "That blue one's quick."

"Don't worry, we've encountered these guys before." Vector said to the cop while winking to the three jailed heroes.

"We've got it covered." Charmy agreed. Once the cop had left, Sonic began to talk. "How did you guys find us?" he asked. Knuckles suddenly gestured for him to be quiet and for Vector to start talking.

"We're detectives. It's what we do." Vector replied as Knuckles snuck over to a small microphone on the wall that no one else had noticed.

"Yeah! We kept tabs on you as soon as you got here" Charmy continued as Knuckles reached the mike.

"YOU ALWAYS FIND US!!!!!" he shouted into it, blowing the eardrum of the officer eavesdropping.

"Now!" Vector exclaimed as Espio suddenly appeared outside the cell.

"Got it." He said, picking the lock with his dagger, releasing the heroes from their cell.

"You guys planned this?" Sonic asked them as they escaped.

"Nah, we improvised." Vector replied.

"Let's get out of here!" Tails said flying towards the exit.

"Wait! We have to get my stone back." Sonic said pulling him back.

"We'll stay here as decoys." Espio said, immediately changing his colors to look like he had been bruised in a fight.

"How will that help?" Knuckles wondered as Vector knocked out one of his quickly replaced crocodile fangs and Charmy also began to fake injuries.

"It'll make them think that we had nothing to do with your escape." Vector answered, rubbing his self injured jaw. "That way if you guys get in trouble, we can get you back out again."

"Okay, sure whatever." Sonic said, not really paying attention because he was digging through the confiscated items for his stone. "Found it!" he exclaimed pulling it out of the mess.

"What's that?" Knuckles asked.

"I dunno yet, but I met someone who has a hunch." Sonic replied as they streaked out of the police station and towards the pillar that Sonic had seen in the future. When the police realized what had happened, they immediately gave chase. But Sonic used his speed to keep him and his friends ahead.

"What are we doing here?" Tails asked as the reached the park where the pillar was. It looked as though time had had no effect on it since it looked identical to the way it looked in the future.

"Testing a theory." Sonic replied as he walked up to the pillar to place the stone in the hole. Suddenly, there was a cocking of guns and he realized that the police had caught up.

"Freeze!" said an officer from a megaphone. "Drop the stone and put your hands in the air."

"You idiots!" Knuckles shouted back, "We're trying to save your stupid planet."

"We have been informed that that stone will conquer the planet if place in that ruin. Cease now."

"Why are so willing to believe Robotnik, but not us?" Tails asked, shaking with fear.

"His story matches all the evidence we've seen."

"I hate to say it," Knuckles whispered to Sonic, "But it looks like Robotnik's predictions have got the wool pulled over their eyes."

"I not giving up," Sonic whispered back. "If I could prove to that fox that I'm really Sonic the Hedgehog, I can prove anything."

"What fox?"

"Never mind…"

Sonic was desperate to dash to the hole and prove their innocence, but he knew that these cops meant business and his friends would be shot down if he so much as twitched.

Suddenly, Amy's voice called out, "There you are!"

Sonic looked up to the sky and groaned, "I wasn't that desperate." as she ran up to grab him, getting in the sights of the policemen. The cops wavered, not wanting to hit an innocent civilian. Seeing his chance, Sonic jammed the stone into the pillar. Instantly, bright green light streamed out of the hole. The officers surrounding the pillar were knocked to the ground by a sudden earthquake. When the rumbling stopped, the stone simply popped back out of the slot and lay on the grass. The pillar was now faintly glowing green and emitting an emerald colored beam from the hole. The verdant beam slowly faded.

"So," Sonic smirked as the police got back to their feet and saw the glowing tower, "Do I control the planet now? Or did Robotnik tell you I have to get all seven first?"

Sheepishly, one of the cops stepped forward.

"Um, gee… On behalf of the Little Planet, we would like to both apologize and welcome you to Palmtree City."

"Finally…" Knuckles muttered as Amy tried to both strangle and hug Sonic at the same time. Suddenly there was a strange sound that sounded eerily similar to the time warp sound. An orange, and silver blur suddenly materialized over Tails and fell on top of him, knocking them both to the ground. When they got up, Sonic realized that it was Tech. With them standing right next to each other, the resemblance between them was even more remarkable even though Tech was obviously much older than Tails.

"Tech? What are you doing here?" Sonic asked as he ran over to help them up.

"Ugh… completing the experiment." He mumbled as he got to his feet and shook off the disorientation from the time travel. When he noticed Tails, he suddenly looked shocked.

"I assume that this is the fox you mentioned, Sonic?" Knuckles asked as Tech caught himself staring and resumed a poker face.

"Yeah, let's go somewhere we can sit down and then we'll explain what's going on." Sonic replied.

Before anyone could say anything else, another police car drove up and the Chaotix were led out in handcuffs. Apparently the police still at the station had seen through their ruse.

"Here are the 'detectives'." the arriving officer said scornfully as he led them to the cop with the megaphone. "Should I book 'em chief?" he asked, failing to notice Sonic and the others were now on good terms with the planetary police force.

"Nah, they had a good reason, though we may need to fine them for impersonating detectives."

"But we are detectives." Charmy protested.

As Sonic's friends laughed while the Chaotix argued with the police, Sonic turned to Tech and said, "Now that you've got your theory, I'm expecting some answers."

********

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Tech, and the Chaotix all went to a nearby restaurant to have lunch, (Complements of the police,) and to tell everything that had happened after they had been split up. After Sonic and Tech finished their introductions and story , Knuckles told his and Tails'.

"There's really not much to tell" he said, "After we crashed, the police were there and they instantly arrested us for being your friends. Then you know the rest."

"We managed to bail out safely over the next zone when gravity switched," Espio said, telling the Chaotix's story "So we worked our way over here to try and find you and make sure you were okay."

"That's why we were there to save the day and get you away from the police!" Charmy said, buzzing with pride.

"Amy did more saving than we did..." Vector muttered, rubbing the hole of his missing fang.

"Why did you drop me Sonic?" Amy interrupted "I got skid marks on my face from that!"

"I had no control over the time jump Amy," Sonic replied, "It just happened."

"But I don't understand how you jumped in the first place."

"I think I can explain that." Tech said. "Sonic found one of the seven Time Stones."

"Time Stones?" Tails asked.

"They're powerful objects capable of distorting time and allowing the holder to jump from one time period to another. Some think that they're the chaos emeralds misnamed in certain legends, but Sonic's discovery proves that they are different objects entirely."

"But I still don't understand how they distort time."

"Well, think of time as being a straight line on a piece of paper," Tech said, as one of his tails printed out a piece of paper with a time line on it "Here's your time period," he said as he drew a small dot on the line, "And there's mine." as he drew another,

"With you so far…" Knuckles said.

"Well, the Time Stones are capable of distorting the fabric of space-time and creating a temporal vortex that bridges the two time periods together." He said, folding the paper so that the two points met.

"Okay, so why don't we just use the stone to go back when Robotnik first started his evil rampage and stop him early?" Vector asked.

"Without all seven stones, only three points in time are linked. The time period the stone was found in, three hundred years in the past and three hundred years into the future, and even with all seven, the past can't be rewritten. At least not immediately."

"So your present is doomed to be a polluted wasteland?" Sonic said with a horrified expression.

"No, my theory is that when the time stones were activated, a temporal tear was created."

"Temporal tear?" Tails asked.

"An unnatural section of space where time is capable of being rewritten."

"I still don't get it…"

"When the time stones were activated, it created a sort of bubble around the planet that caused everything off of it to freeze in time. The tear could probably be healed by gathering of all seven stones. Any damage done to the time stream when the tear heals would be permanent if it wasn't not stopped and reversed."

"Whoa!" Sonic shouted, suddenly realizing what Tech was implying. "So if Robotnik got his ugly little hands on all seven, he could rewrite time to make it so that he was always in charge of Mobius!"

"Exactly, and due to his presence in my time period, I'm afraid that he already has at least one."

"So what was with that ruin that you used to jump here?" Knuckles asked. "You obviously knew it had something to do with the stones."

"I think it was the original shrine for the stones." Tech answered. "somehow it temporarily activated the temporal vortex without the need for high speed to trigger the warp. And there's one in each zone. When all the shrines have been activated, we'll be able to repair the time stream that's already been damaged."

"Time's been damaged already?" Knuckles said in confusion.

"My present wasn't always ruled by robots." Tech said with an annoyed look.

"But if we're in an alternate time line, wouldn't you forget what was in the original time line without robots?" Espio wondered.

"You'd probably be right. But my theory is that since time itself has been torn and I've been exposed to the temporal vortex, I can slightly remember the way things should have been before time was damaged." Tech explained.

"My head hurts." Charmy whined.

"Tell me about it." Vector agreed, "You'd have to be part computer to get around this stuff.

At this Tech sighed and lifted up his cap, revealing that most everything hidden under it was mechanical. "Good thing I am." He simply said.

After picking his jaw up off of the floor, Tails asked, "What happened?"

"I'm not sure I can tell you. Since the Time Stones allow history to be re-written, and since you were a big part of the Cyborg project, It might mess up my memories and abilities." Tech said.

"You told me that once you knew what the stone was, you'd explain everything." Sonic pointed out.

"I'm still not staking my memory and cybernetic abilities on the temporal tear theory." Tech protested. "I'm going to need my own Time Stone to buffer my existence from being rewritten if I'm going to tell you everything."

"Okay then." Knuckles said "Where can we find another one?"

"They were hidden in seven special zones by an unknown civilization thousands of years ago. I don't even know how Sonic managed to find his way there."

"That's easy," Sonic said. "I used a dimensional ring beside the first act border."

"There wasn't any ring when I passed there." Amy said, rather perplexed.

"It must have been created when the stones were activated." Espio theorized.

"Can't be." Tech corrected. "The stones need to be activated from inside the zone."

"What could have caused it then?" Tails wondered.

"Oh!" Sonic remembered, "There were these unnatural U.F.O. things flying around in the special zone. I had to destroy them before the stone appeared. You think that they have anything to do with it?"

"I'll bet all six Chaotix Rings that Robotnik put them there to find the stone first." Vector said, snapping his fingers. "That's why time's already gone screwy."

"I think you're right." Tech agreed. "That's probably how he got the Time Stone he used to jump to my time."

"What about those seeds that power the robots?" Charmy pointed out. " I can use some flowers to warp through space, could they have allowed for a warp through time?"

"Not at all. Those strange little seeds are native to this planet and will give off small amounts of energy for hundreds of years until they bloom. They make efficient power sources because of how long they last. Once they bloom though, that power is used up to grow and stay bloomed. The bloomed flowers don't seem to produce seeds either, so any non-bloomed seeds are considered more valuable than diamonds."

"Ah…" Sonic said as their food arrived.

********

When they had finished eating, they decided what their next course of action should be.

"I think that me, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles should make our way around the planet." Tech said "I think that each of the seven zones probably contains a warp to one of the stone zones."

"Sonic's not going anywhere without me." Amy stated forcefully.

"We could take her off of your hands." Vector whispered to Sonic. "We're going to stay here and try to clear out the bug-bots that are still terrorizing the city."

"NO!" Amy screamed, shattering Vector's eardrums. "I'm going with Sonic!"

"Fine…" Sonic muttered in defeat. "I can't force you on the Chaotix."

"Good." She grinned as she hugged him.

"Alright!" Sonic said, shaking her off and glaring daggers at the snickering Knuckles and Tech, "Let's find a hotel for tonight and we'll set out tommorow."

**Well, That's it for our heroes' break. Next chapter has our friends on their way to Collison Chaos Zone. R&R and stay tuned for the next exiting installment.**


End file.
